


After The Day

by MiladyDragon



Series: Dragon-Verse Series One [2]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragon-Verse, Episode Tag, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-04-26
Updated: 2012-04-26
Packaged: 2017-11-04 08:12:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/391684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiladyDragon/pseuds/MiladyDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the events in "Day One", Ianto enjoys a quiet drink, and good conversation with a friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After The Day

 

**_10 September 2007_ **

****

Ianto was about as close to exhausted as he could be, and yet he was far too wired to go home.

It had been a busy day and a half.  Too many deaths…too much cover-up…and it all could be laid at the feet of one person.

It was just trying to decide if it was Jack or Gwen who deserved his ire.

He sat in his favorite pub, nursing a lager and wishing he could just forget everything.  But his mind wouldn’t let it go, and he brooded on what had happened, wondering just when it had all gone wrong.

Ianto could blame it on Gwen Cooper’s inexperience and her almost desperate eagerness to fit in.If she hadn’t made that first mistake, all the people who did die might not have.She’d been called in a day early to handle the so-caller meteor, and really hadn’t known where she’d stood.Yes, throwing things around unknown objects was always a bad idea, and common sense should have told her that, but then she’d only been following the others' example.Then there was her attempt at ‘profiling’, which might have worked if Gwen had actually paid closer attention to the information she’d been gathering on Carys Fletcher, instead of trying to impress everyone.It has taken Tosh to find out what the alien who’d possessed the girl had been up to.




Or, he could blame Jack for calling her in in the first place.  She hadn’t officially started yet, had received no training whatsoever.  Jack had demanded that the immortal take on Gwen’s training himself, instead of sharing it between him and Ianto as he always had, and then hadn’t actually done any training at all.  Gwen should never have been out on that mission.  It had been Jack’s insistence that had put her there.  It hadn’t mattered that Ianto, Tosh, and Owen had all argued about it, had tried to get him to let her be, but Jack had let that stubborn bull-headedness get the better of him, and he’d texted Gwen anyway, ordering Ianto to stay behind at the Hub and monitor.  And when did it make sense to leave behind the most experienced field agent Torchwood had, besides the immortal himself, in favor of a rookie who didn’t even know which end of the gun she should be pointing toward an enemy?

Ianto sighed.  It was as if Jack had lost his reason over the woman.  He just couldn’t understand it.  He was already favoring her over the others, when Gwen didn’t know what she was actually doing.  And he hadn’t really seen any of this so-called humanity Jack had hired her for, besides her need to waste lots of paper in printing up information she hadn’t even looked at.   Waste was a very human trait.

Luckily Ianto shredded and recycled.

The dragon rubbed his eyes, wondering if he shouldn’t be heading back home.  But he really didn’t want to go back there, for several different reasons…most of them having to do with his ‘guest’.  He was beginning to think he’d made a mistake, and yet it was too late to back out now.  He simply couldn’t betray her, and yet he was betraying Jack as well.  If Jack knew of his intentions…

“Jones.”

Ianto glanced up at the familiar voice.  “Detective Swanson,” he greeted her.  “Care to join me?”

Kathy Swanson slid into the booth opposite him, setting her own pint on the scarred wooden table.  Ianto had gotten to know the detective inspector in his liaison work between Torchwood and Cardiff CID, and she was one of the few humans he genuinely respected.  “Fancy seeing you here,” she said, removing her suit jacket. 

“Must be my lucky day,” he flirted half-heartedly.

She rolled her eyes, taking a sip of her drink.  “You’re starting to sound like Himself,” she said, once her glass was back on the table.

“Gods and Goddesses forbid,” he answered, knowing she was talking about Jack.  “Shoot me if it happens again, all right?”  Not that it would damage him unduly, but she didn’t need to know that.

That caused Kathy to laugh.  “No problem.”  She sobered.  “So…rough day?”

“You could say that.”

“I know you can’t talk about it, and I’m not about to give you any false sympathy…but I do hope things look up. “

“Thank you for that.”  Kathy Swanson knew more about Torchwood than Jack thought, and Ianto had never even considered Retconning her over it.   Torchwood was one of the worst-kept secrets in Cardiff, and if Ianto went around doping everyone who was at least aware of them then nearly the entire city would have partial amnesia.




“I…understand we have a new liaison,” the detective changed the subject.

Of course, she had no idea that that was but one of the subjects that was bothering him.  “It wasn’t by choice,” he growled.

“Look, about the only thing I know about your boss is that he’s a prime twat – “

That caused Ianto to laugh darkly.

“ – but I just don’t see why he’d hire Cooper.  She’s practically a rookie on the force and she really doesn’t have any skills that Special Ops could want.”

“Would it surprise you to know that I agree with you?”

“On which point?”

“All of them. “ 

Kathy chuckled.  “Would it help if I put in a good word with you?”

“That might make the captain even more stubborn.”

“Damn.  The news is already making its way around the ranks.  The Gov’s not at all happy about losing you.  I heard him say that relations between the CID and Torchwood have never been better, and he could remember back to the old regime, before you and Harkness showed up.”

Ianto took pride in that.  He’d thought he’d done a good job, but knowing that Kathy’s superiors had appreciated his efforts…  “We’ll just have to see how she handles it.”

“It’s almost a joke around the station, you know.”

The dragon grimaced.  This was just what Torchwood needed.  “Lovely.”

“Just a friendly warning: your people might be given a hard time at crime scenes.  Might be worse if they knew you were taken off the job to make room for our former PC.”  She shook her head.  “I can see you guys wanting some sort of copper on the team, but why not go for one with more experience?  One that’s more respected?”

“Trust me; if I’d known the captain was going to hire someone, I would have made sure your CV was on the top of the pile.”   He meant it.  The only reason he hadn’t told her about him being a dragon was that he hadn’t wanted to put her in the position of keeping secrets from her superiors.

Kathy snorted.  “I’m not sure whether to thank you for that, or to smack you.”

“You might want to go for the smack.”

That brought a smile to her face, and she raised her glass to him.“But really,” she said, once she’d drank, “a lot of the local coppers respect you.You’re about the only Woody we talk to, besides your captain, and you always treat us with respect.Himself just sweeps in and orders us around…”




Ianto’s eyebrow went up at the not-so-polite nickname.  “Well, I’ve always believed that, if you show someone respect, they’ll show it to you.”  He might not particularly care for most ephemerals, but treating someone like they don’t matter was always wrong.

But she was right about Jack.  He had a tendency to just barge in and start throwing orders about, and there were times when it had taken all the tact that Ianto possessed to smooth things over.  When he’d called Jack on it the first time, the immortal had just shrugged it off, quoting back that whole ‘Outside the Government, Beyond the Police’ spiel that he was so fond of.  It was at that point that Ianto thought Jack had a bit of the megalomaniac in him, and that plus the immortal’s innate narcissism meant that there was no way the dragon was going to get Jack to play nice. 

And then there was the flirting.  If Jack wasn’t pissing people off with his attitude, he was hitting on anything that moved.  More often than not it got him a phone number or an invitation out for drinks, and Ianto had yet to see him turn any of them down. 

Sometimes Ianto really wondered how he could feel the way he did about Jack.  Then he’d realize it was because he’d fallen into the same Harkness trap that any of his other lovers did.  It made him feel cheap, and yet he knew if Jack called him, it would be very hard to say no to him.

“Some people just look down on those of us who have to actually work for a living,” Kathy sighed.  There must have been something in Ianto’s expression, because she raised her hand to placate him.  “I’m not saying you don’t work,” she hastened to add.  “I’m just saying that there are some who think they’re better than others, and are entitled.  Himself is one of those.  You aren’t.  And we’ll see what category Cooper falls in, although I don’t hold out much hope.”

“I…understand, Detective.”  He couldn’t add that he’d once been worshipped, and it hadn’t been something he’d enjoyed.  He wasn’t a being who enjoyed attention, whereas Jack did.  “If you ever do need anything, you have my mobile.  Oh, and I did want to thank you again about the tip-off at the club.”  It had been her call that had put the team on the track of Carys Fletcher, and the alien that had possessed her.

“Not a problem.It seemed right up Torchwood’s alley.”She drained her glass, then retrieved her jacket and stood.“I need to get home.Take care, Jones.”She began to walk away, then turned back.“The phone call goes the same way.If you need anything, you know how to reach me.But it’s for you, Jones.You’re a stand-up guy.I could really care less about Himself or anyone else.”




Ianto nodded his thanks.  He finished his own drink, knowing it was time for him to go home as well. 

He shrugged on his coat – even though the chill of the September evening didn’t bother him – then headed out to the roof of the nearest tall building, so he could transform and fly home.

 

 

 


End file.
